


honey sun

by ghostwiththemost



Category: The Get Down
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 08:46:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10590507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostwiththemost/pseuds/ghostwiththemost
Summary: Shao wasn’t quite sure he believed it, but he wasn’t really gonna complain too much either. Especially since Zeke had stopped in to see him instead of Mylene.





	

**Author's Note:**

> set before part II takes place

Zeke had been starin’ at him lately. More so than he used to, anyways. Shao hated that he knew that Zeke had been starin’ only because he had been too. It felt like every day now he would find his eyes drifting over to Zeke (usually more than once every day, if he was being honest with himself). Oftentimes, Zeke was looking right back, rhyme notebook held loose in his hands. They would lock eyes for a coupla seconds before Shao would shake himself and look down. 

The late afternoon sunlight was coming in through the windows of the abandoned mansion Shao had claimed, making everything feel honey gold and warm. The humidity of the summer air made Shao feel like he was moving underwater, slow and almost fevered. Zeke was on the couch with his collared shirt unbuttoned to the nape of his neck and tie loosened. His internship had apparently let out early, he had explained when he wandered unexpectedly into the new temple. Shao wasn’t quite sure he believed it, but he wasn’t really gonna complain too much either. Especially since Zeke had stopped in to see him instead of Mylene. 

“You gonna spin something for me?” Zeke said, lolling his head to the side and offering Shao a languid grin. It spread across his face like the sun rising, like the opening notes of a record, like the ocean against the shoreline. There was something hot and tight in Shao’s chest and even just looking at Zeke was too much. Nodding his head, not trusting himself to say anything, Shao pulled himself up from his station on the floor, a safe distance from Zeke and the stupidass urge he’d had lately to reach out and touch. 

His record collection was still nowhere near it had been before the fire, but he’d managed to build up something at least halfway decent. “You gonna rhyme to it or are you just tryna listen?” Shao asked, pausing with a record in between his fingertips. There was a strange kinda energy in the air that Shao couldn’t quite read, and it wasn’t helped by the way that Zeke kept lookin’ while he was sprawled all over Shao’s couch, his eyes heavy lidded. 

Zeke laughed, finally looking away from Shao. Part of him was bitterly disappointed and he wanted to carve that part of him out of himself and throw it into the ocean, watch it sink below the water like Malibu’s car had, and remind himself that he didn’t deserve this. “Man, don’t I always end up rhyming something? Play whatever you feel like.” He yanked his tie looser until he was able to slip it off over his head, tossing it down next to the couch. Shao swallowed roughly and ducked his eyes away from the brown skin of Zeke’s neck, resuming his search through the records. 

He finally pulled two copies of a Flaming Ember record that he’d tracked down after hearing Grandmaster Flash spin it. Shao hadn’t had much time to play around with it, in between the increasing number of shows The Get Down Brothers had been doing and the work that Fat Annie had him doing. He tried not to think about that though, breathing slow and measured as he slipped the vinyls from their sleeves. “Got some new shit for you, Books. Not even sure where all the get downs are yet,” he said.

Zeke got up from the couch and made his way over to the turntables, peering over Shao’s shoulder to see the name of the record. He hummed under his breath, reaching out to turn Shao’s hand over, looking over the songs listed on the B side. His skin was warm, that was all Shao could think, that was the only thing that suddenly mattered, and he couldn’t do this. Couldn’t keep lookin’ and feelin’ and hoping. The last thing Shao needed was to look over his shoulder for one more person. And it wouldn’t just be Zeke scowling at him on the street, but all of The Get Down Brothers, and suddenly Shao’s breath was coming too fast. 

He tugged his hand from Zeke’s grip (refusing to think about how Zeke had kept holding it) and readied the turntables, pretending that all his attention was needed to drop the needle. “Hey, man, you doin’ okay?” Zeke asked drily, leaning back against the table. Shao waved him off with his free hand, grunting under his breath and hoping that Zeke would leave it alone. “Naw, come on, you’ve been weird lately.”

The record started quietly and Shao closed his eyes for a brief moment. “Oh yeah, I been weird? Come off it, man, you barely even seen me.”

Zeke huffed out a sigh. “I’m here now, ain’t I? You know I’ve gotta be in Manhattan most of the time.”

Lazily dragging his fingers across the record, Shao looped the beginning chords back. It might be too slow of a record for The Get Down Brothers, he thought. It worked for Flash, but they usually did more high energy pieces to get a crowd that had never heard of them hype. “Sure, for your internship and Mylene.” He wanted to take back the words as soon as he had said them, afraid that the jealousy was too clear in them. 

“Yeah, for my internship,” Zeke said slowly, eyeing Shao like he was on the verge of figuring out something. Shao was hyper-aware that Zeke hadn't mentioned Mylene. Zeke put his hands in his pockets, still slouched only a foot away from Shao, and tipped his head back. “Look, I don’t want to think about all that shit right now, aight? Came here to be with my man and not have to worry.”

Shao didn’t say anything, letting the end of the first track on the record play out underneath his fingertips. He'd heard Zeke say “my man” hundreds of times, maybe, and it still sent a guilty thrill through him, even as he told himself that it wasn't like that at all. Zeke was just bein’ friendly because that was what they were and all they ever would be. 

Pushing himself off of the edge of the table, Zeke walked around in front of the turntables and put his hands down, leaning ever so slightly into Shao’s space. “Aight, you ain't even looked at me since I walked in that door so are you gonna give me a reason or nah?” The genuine frustration in his voice made Shao finally look up. His eyes darted over Zeke’s face, cataloging the hint of stubble above his lips and the dark brown of his eyes and how he ran his tongue over his lower lip.

“Look, I ain't - I'm not-” Shao started to say, not even sure how he was planning on ending either sentence. 

Zeke looked into his eyes. The record kept playing and not even the wack parts were bothering Shao like they normally did. “No one's saying anything, Shao. It's just me.” 

Shao ground out a barking laugh. “Trust me, I sure as hell know it's you. Part of the fucking problem, Books.” 

Face twisting in anger and confusion, Zeke leaned back and crossed his arms. “The fuck is that supposed to mean, Shao? You got a problem with me now?” 

Dragging his fingers across the record, Shao let it scratch loudly before releasing it. He felt restless and almost out of his body. He’d told himself for so long (maybe since the day Zeke chased after him to get that fuckin’ Pakoussa record back) that he didn’t feel nothing, that he’d just been alone for too long and Zeke was nobody special. “Maybe you the problem, man,” was what he finally said, hunched over the turntables but looking Zeke straight in the eyes. 

Zeke drummed his fingers against his arm, anger draining from his face as fast as it had come. “What you tryna say? I know that ain’t what it sounds like,” Zeke said, voice level and eyes knowing. The whole room felt electrified and Shao was afraid that moving would get him shocked, wake him up from this whole parallel universe where someone knew him and cared about him. 

“If you already know, why do you want me to say it?” Zeke felt like he was on the edge of a roof, so close to jumping off and not sure if he was gonna make it to the next one.

Coming around the table again, Zeke looked at Shao for a long moment. Shao could cataloge when he blinked and how his chest rose when he breathed and how the sunlight hit him from behind, illuminating the edges of his afro in soft gold. “Wanna make sure I’m not wrong. Wanna make sure you actually feel this too,” Zeke said in a quiet voice meant only for Shao to hear. 

Shao bit his lower lip and looked up, needing a minute to breathe. He could hear Zeke take a step back and that brought him back to earth in a hurry. “I don’t - I don’t wanna pressure you, Shao. And if I’m readin’ this all wrong, you let me know, okay? I can leave if you want.”

“You not reading anything wrong, Books,” Shao said, throat dry. He stood up straight, leaving the records alone, and took a step towards Zeke, filling the space he had just left. “Not sure I can say much more than that right now, though. I’m not as good with words as you are.”

Zeke took a step forward as well, bringing them just a couple of inches apart. Shao wasn’t sure he could even remember the last time he’d wanted to be this close to someone other than Zeke. Steeling himself, Shao reached out and placed his hand on Zeke’s shoulder, his thumb finding the divot under his collarbone even through the white button down. He’d slung his arm casually around Zeke’s shoulders so many time, but this, now, face-to-face, felt a thousand times more intimate. He could feel how Zeke’s breath stuttered. 

Moving slow, Zeke put his hand on Shao’s waist. The heat of it burned and the summer air was heavy in the room. Shao swallowed and Zeke’s eyes tracked down his throat and back up to his lips. “Can I?” Zeke near whispered, as if the words had finally fled the wordsmith too. Shao nodded, head near spinning, and then Zeke was kissing him soft and slow. 

It felt like the first warm day after winter, like when he had first heard Grandmaster Flash play. A new beginning. Zeke pulled back, dopey grin on his face, and Shao couldn’t stop himself from smiling back. “Not too bad, Books.”

Zeke rolled his eyes and squeezed Shao’s hip. “Yeah, nothing but the best for my DJ.”

“Don’t recall saying the best,” Shao said.

Shifting imperceptibly closer, Zeke cocked an eyebrow. “Guess I had better try again, then.” Shao curled his arm around the back of Zeke’s neck and ran his tongue over his lower lip. 

“Guess you better had.”


End file.
